The light from the Sun is a white light mixture. Based on what you
know about their colors, which of the spectrums (light mixtures) below
best represents what reflects off Mars?

Which of the following graphs probably represents the spectrum of
Betelgeuse best? (Betelgeuse is a star that looks red to the eye.)

I have a jug of clear blue liquid. Which of the following is true?

The liquid is not doing anything to the light that hits it.

Most of the violet, blue, and green light is bouncing off the
liquid and coming to your eyes.

Most of the yellow, orange, and red light is bouncing off the
liquid and coming to your eyes.

When I pass the jug of clear blue liquid in front of the light bulb,
what will you see in the spectrum?

The jug will make the violet, blue and green light more intense.

The jug will make the yellow, orange, and red light more intense.

The jug will remove most of the violet, blue, and green light.

The jug will remove most of the yellow, orange and red light.

Which kind of spectrum would you see if you were looking in the
direction shown by the arrow?

continuous spectrum

absorption line spectrum

emission line spectrum

Which kind of spectrum would you see if you were looking in the
direction shown by the arrow?

continuous spectrum

absorption line spectrum

emission line spectrum

Which kind of spectrum would you see if you were looking in the
direction shown by the arrow?

continuous spectrum

absorption line spectrum

emission line spectrum

Imagine that you are looking at two different spectrums of the Sun.
Spectrum #1 is obtained using a telescope in orbit high enough about Earth's
atmosphere. Spectrum #2 is obtained using a telescope on Earth. Which
spectrum comes from the telescope on Earth (#2)?

The electrical force attracts an electron to a proton. To move an
electron from a low orbit to a high orbit (farther from the proton),
what has to happen?

Energy has to be absorbed.

Energy has to be released.

Nothing has to happen - the electron will change orbits on its own.

An atom has energy levels with energies of 0, 3, and 5 units. The
energy level with an energy of 5 units is the outermost boundary of
the atom. Assuming this atom has a single electron in the "0" energy
level (the ground state), which of the following photon energies can
the electron absorb to move it to another orbit?

3 units only.

3 units or 2 units.

3 units or 5 units.

3 units or 8 units.

5 units only.

8 units only.

An atom has energy levels with energies of 0, 3, 9, and 10 units. The
energy level with an energy of 10 units is the outermost boundary of
the atom. Assuming this atom has a single electron in the "3" energy
level, which of the following photon energies can the electron absorb
but still remain attached to the atom? (There are two correct
answers.)

1 unit.

3 units.

6 units.

7 units.

8 units.

9 units.

10 units.

Atom X has energy levels with energies of 0 and 10 units. Atom Y has energy
levels with energies of 0 and 12 units. In each atom, an electron moves from
the upper energy level to the lower energy level, emitting a single photon
in the process. Which of the photons has longer wavelength?

If you flipped a coin to decide which direction each of the 8 planets
went around the Sun, what is the probability that all of them would
end up going around in the same direction?

More than 99%

About 75% (only a 1 in 4 chance they wouldn't)

About 50%

About 25% (only a 1 in 4 chance they would)

Less than 1%

Which of the pictures below shows Earth correctly scaled in comparison
to the Sun?

If you added together all of the planets, how would their mass compare
to the mass of the Sun?

The planets are miniscule compared to the Sun's mass.

The planets add up to about half the Sun's mass.

The planets add up to about the same as the Sun's mass.

The planets add up to more than the Sun's mass.

If your daring professor sits in the ``CHAIR OF DEATH'' with his arms
outstretched and starts himself rotating, what will happen if he
pulls his arms in toward his body?

He will start to spin much slower.

He will keep spinning at the same speed.

He will start to spin much faster.

Something horrible will happen...

What will happen if he moves his arms up and down, parallel to his
spin axis?

He will start to spin much slower.

He will keep spinning at the same speed.

He will start to spin much faster.

Something even more horrible will happen...

What would happen to a cloud that collapsed without any rotation at
all?

There would not be planets orbiting the Sun.

The planets would be closer to the Sun.

The planets would be farther from the Sun.

What kind of material would you expect to be able to condense out
of the gas closest to the Sun?

Snowflakes (icy material).

Dust grains made of rocky material.

Metallic dust grains.

Liquid hydrogen droplets.

As the solar system was forming, where could chemicals like water be found?

Everywhere (as a gas)

Only near the Sun (as a gas)

Near the Sun as a gas, and farther from the Sun as solid particles

Only far from the Sun (as solid particles)

Everywhere (as solid particles)

The dense terrestrial planets tend to be located nearer the Sun because

it is predicted by Newton's Laws

the gravity of the Sun affects them more.

it was hotter near the Sun when these planets formed.

Which of the statements below correctly describes how comets differ from
asteroids? (Give all correct statements.)

Comets are mostly ices, not rock.

Comets are usually much farther from the Sun.

Comets are leftover pieces of bigger smashed objects.

Which of the following statements describes the meaning of
condensation?

Solid objects colliding and sticking.

Solid objects colliding and breaking up.

Solid or liquid material turning into gas.

Gas turning into solid or liquid.

Which of the following pairs of planets formed at temperatures below
the freezing point of water?

Mercury and Venus

Venus and Earth

Mars and Jupiter

Earth and Jupiter

Jupiter and Saturn

Would it have been possible for a large Jupiter-like planet to form in
the location of Mars?

yes

no

Imagine the young solar system has a disk of orbiting dirt and ice
particles. As time went on, particles collided and stuck together to
make larger objects. As a result, new collisions started happening

Imagine an impact occurred on the continental plate millions and
millions of years ago, leaving a crater near the base
of the volcano. Why would there be little evidence of this crater
found today?

The continental plate would be melted, along with the crater.

More recent impacts would make craters that would erase the old
ones.

Lava flows from the volcano would cover it up over time.

In the image below, how heavily covered with craters is Mars?

The surface was almost entirely covered with craters.

There was a medium number of craters, spread all over the surface.

There was a medium number of craters, mostly on one side of the planet.

There were a small number of visible craters.

There were no craters visible.

Is there a relationship between the number of craters and either the
distance of the planet from the Sun or the size of the planet?

Planets that are closer to the Sun have more craters.

Planets that are closer to the Sun have fewer craters.

Larger planets have more craters.

Larger planets have fewer craters.

Imagine the pictures below were taken of an area of the Moon with craters at
various times in the past. What is the correct order of the pictures from
past to present?

The dark grey area is one of the Moon's maria. How old is the
lava in it compared to the other craters?

The lava is probably older than most of the craters.

The lava is probably about the same age as most of the craters.

The lava is probably younger than most of the craters.

Rocks that were collected in the Moon's "maria" during the Apollo
missions have been radioactively dated. Using the information in the
graph, this tells us that most of the craters were made...

late in the Moon's history.

early in the Moon's history.

regularly throughout the Moon's history.

In the picture of Mars' surface below, there are several overlapping
features. "A" is a volcano, "B" and "C" are craters, and "D"
is the surface of the flat plain that surrounds everything. Keeping in
mind that the surface of the plain might have been covered up by
lava from another volcano, which is the correct order of their ages
(from oldest to youngest)?

In the picture of Mars' surface below, which is older?

The large crater.

The erosion channels.

They are about the same age

In the picture of Mars' surface below, "A" is the set of gullies, "B"
is the crater and splashed rock on the right side, and "C" is the
crater at the top. What is the order from oldest to youngest?

In the picture of Venus' surface below, "1" is the set of long cracks
(from tectonics), and "2" and "3" are lava domes. What is the order
from oldest to youngest?

Is there a relationship between the number of volcanoes and either a
planet's i) distance from the Sun or ii) its size?

Planets that are closer to the Sun have more volcanoes.

Planets that are closer to the Sun have fewer volcanoes.

Larger planets have more volcanoes.

Larger planets have fewer volcanoes.

There is no apparent relationship.

Suppose a terrestrial planet the same age as Earth is discovered
orbiting another star, and it is your job to predict what it
is like. If the planet is known to have mass and size smaller than
Venus, but more than Mars, what would be the best prediction based on
our understanding of the solar system?

It should have no volcanic mountains.

It should have volcanic mountains, but they may or may not be active.

It should have a number of active volcanoes spread evenly
over the surface.

It should have a large number of active volcanoes found only in
small areas of the surface.

When a certain rock solidified, it contained 4% chemical X. Chemical X
radioactively decays to form chemical Y and has a half-life of 80
million years. If the rock now has 1% chemical X, how old is the
rock?

10 million years

20 million years

40 million years

80 million years

160 million years

320 million years

The choices below describe 4 hypothetical planets. Which one's
surface would you expect to be most crowded with impact craters?
(Assume they orbit a star just like the Sun and are the same age as
the planets in our solar system.)

Size

Distance from Sun

1. same as Venus

same as Mars

2. same as Moon

same as Mars

3. same as Mars

same as Earth

4. twice Earth size

same as Mercury

What would a large terrestrial planet be like today if it was far from the Sun?

Neptune is a deep blue color. Which of the following could be a reason
for this?

Neptune is hot enough to be releasing mostly blue light.

Neptune is cold enough to be releasing mostly blue light.

Gases in Neptune's atmosphere absorb most of the blue light
coming from the Sun.

Gases in Neptune's atmosphere absorb most of the red light
coming from the Sun.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a deep red color. Which of the following
could be a reason for this?

The Spot is hot enough to be releasing mostly red light.

The Spot is cool enough to be releasing mostly red light.

Gases in the Spot absorb most of the blue light
coming from the Sun.

Gases in the Spot absorb most of the red light
coming from the Sun.

Below is a picture of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Which of the following
statements about its surface is probably true?

All parts of its surface froze over at about the same time.

The lower left part of the surface probably froze over before the
upper right.

The upper right part of the surface probably froze over before the
lower left.

What happens to cans of diet tea and energy drink when put in water?

The diet tea will float and the energy drink will sink.

The diet tea will sink and the energy drink will float.

Both will float in water.

Both will sink in water.

A planet discovered orbiting another star was found to have a mass
that is 0.6 times Jupiter's mass, and a diameter that is 1.44 times
Jupiter's size (so that its volume is 3 times greater than
Jupiter's). This planet has a density that is...

0.2 times Jupiter's density.

0.6 times Jupiter's density.

the same as Jupiter's density.

1.8 times Jupiter's density

3 times Jupiters' density.

5 times Jupiter's density.

What should happen to a rapidly spinning planet it it is mostly made
of materials that aren't solid?